The Study of Th1/Th2 Cytokine Profiles (IL-10, IL-12, IL-4, and IFNγ) in PBMCs of Patients with Multidrug Resistant Tuberculosis and Newly Diagnosed Drug Responsive Cases

Multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB), which is a worldwide clinical problem, is associated with high morbidity and mortality, as well as long-term survival of infected immunocompetent patients. In this study, the PPD-induced production of IL-12, IL-10, IFNg, and IL-4 in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from patients with MDR-TB were investigated and compared with cytokine production capabilities in newly diagnosed, treated cases. This study investigated the profiles of IFN-g, IL-12, IL-10, and IL-4 in response to a purified protein derivative (PPD) in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from 15 HIV negative patients with multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB), 11 newly diagnosed, treated cases and compared those with 10 healthy negative tuberculin reactors as controls. ELISA results showed that the following stimulation with PPD, IFNg production was significantly increased, whereas IL-10 was significantly reduced in MDR-TB patients compared with PPD negative controls. Production of IL-12 in MDR-TB patients showed elevation, induced by PPD stimulation of their PBMCs. However, MDR-TB patients were similar to healthy negative tuberculin controls in their IL-12 production and there was no statistically significant difference between them. IL-4 was detected to be in very low levels in three groups. In this study MDR-TB patients have no dysregulation in IL-12 or IL-10 production during Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection, and profiles are prone to Th1 cytokines